Candle making apparatus



July 9, 1935.

' C. J. SCHROEDER CANDLE MAKING APPARATUS Filed Au 26, 1951' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 cm J.

July 9, 19315. C.J.SCHROEDER 4 2,007,?73

CANDLE MAKING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26; 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

0000 o o f Patented July'9, 1935 I t I UNITED-STATES PATENT oF' i-cE CANDLE MAKING APPARATUS Carl J. Schroeder, Chicago, 111., assignorto Y Standard Oil Company, Chicago, 111,, a oorporation oflndiana Application August 26, 1931," Serial No. 559,352

1 8 Claims; (Cl. 18--27) This invention relates to candle making and it tables. A clearer understanding of the invenpertains more particularly to an improved tion and the .various features thereof will be method and me s for making dipped"ca,nd1e5 understood from the following description taken In large roduction work candles are usually n onn ction with the accompanyin drawings:

made by a casting process, the molten wax being wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodi- .5.

poured into a mold around the wick, excess wax t'theleof. being removed and the candles being exuded In h dr wings wherein similar parts are from the molds, and cut from the wicks prepara designated by like r f ren Characters r tory to the casting of more candles. Candles of Out the several vieWsf this type are limited to shapes which can be Fi I n el v i n f my impr ved d p- 10 forced out of a mold, Hand dipped dle e ping wheel showing in elevational section one of formed by immersing th i k i th wax, re- .thetanksand one of the hot plates thereunder. moving it,,al1owing the adhering wax to harden Figure 2 is an l r on i p r p tive of and repeating this cycle to buildup a candleroi l Candle a y ame.

desired thickness. Dipped candles areusually Figure 3 is perspective V Of the .1 0f 15 slightly tapered, their shape being dependent on the hot p a v the rate'at which the wicks are immersed in and e. 4 is a tal ay p i l h w rem ved fro th liquid wax H d dipped the relation of the wheels to the track system candles have a more 'attractive'appearance beand 0f t track System to the p k s.

cause of their wavy contour and their satin efi s a op V w Of b t j ap i 20 finish, each candle being slightly different-from plate. V 7 every other candle. Furthermore, hand dipped u 6 s, a v rti a ti ak al ngth candles burn more evenly than cast candles belines $5 of Figure 5, causethe wax mixture ismore uniformly dis- F ure V7 is a detailed elevation of the candle tributed and there is less chance for one side of g p, a

the crater to melt and spill the wax down the Figure 8 is a ti n through t a k sh wsidev of thecandle, Hand dipping makes it s t mounting the frame-Supporting a f- .possible for a candle tohave a relatively soft triage therein. 1 Y

. core and a harder exterior or shell and it also R fe ng to Figure avertical Shaft J' Urmakes it possible to obtain desirable. color effects. Halefl in a thrust hearing h the 09 a d a 30 The object of my invention is to provide an bearing if! on the ceiling. ad ally xtending improved method and apparatus for dipping arms 13 are braced or Submi y t rods candles whereby production costs will be reduced tension mb M a d t y are e d in spaced to a minimum, speed of roduction will be inr d l p i n y spacer e At h end creased, and the quality and appearance of the of each radial arm is I provide a block it carry- 35 finished candle will be markedly improved. A ing pulley'l'l, at an inner point ofthe arm I profurther object is to provide a system which will; vide a block 18' carrying pulley l9 and adjacent require aminimumamount of eifort for handling the central shaft it I providea block 20 carrying and which will yield a uniform product. pulleys 2i and 22. A rope or cable 23 is coni In order to carry out'my invention I have pronected at one end to track section 24, and it is 40 vided an improved wheel which is rotatable on trained over pulleys ll and 2! to counterweight a vertical axis and which carries reciprocably 25, thence over pulleys 22 and is to the other end movable track sections, These sections are of the track section. It will thus be seen that the radially disposed, and they are adapted to retrack section 2 5 may be raised or lowered; it is ceive frame supporting carriages. A series of guided by guide rod 26 which cooperates with an 45 wax baths and hot plates are positioned around openingin a plate 26a on the track section, The the central axis under the reciprocable track 'track section isv limited in its upward movement sections and the track sections are counterby contact of plate 26a with stop memberjzflb weighted so that they may be raised or lowered thiestop member e p ac d at Such an 'eleva with a minimum amount of eiiort. By means of tion that the track section 24 will registerwith 5O suitable turn tables I connect each wheel with a the turntable switch which will behereinai'ter track on which the frame supporting carriages described. 7

may be, moved over other baths, -hot plates, Candle wicks are held in clamps?! which are and/or tapering plates,'and whereby the frames closely spaced on rods 28, the rodsbeing held-in may be finally positioned adjacent packing notches 29 of channeled end sections 30, whi h. 5 5

are secured by bars 3| to the ends of handle rod 32, and which are held in position by means of braces 33.

The supporting rod 32 is connected by means of bolts 34 to carriages 35 which may be briefly described as a yoke on which two pairs of wheels are pivoted by means of journals 3! and stub shafts 38. The track section 24 substantially encloses the carriage wheels by means of downwardly extending flanges 39 and curved bottom flanges 4|] on which wheels 36 are adapted to run.

At spaced intervals around the central shaft and under the reciprocable track sections 24 and candle carrying frames I mount wax baths and hot plates. The wax 4| which may be a mixture of paraffin wax with stearine or stearic acid, is held in a deep rectangular receptacle 42 enclosed in an insulated outer shell 43 with a steam jacket 44 between the receptacle and the shell.

The hot plate 45 is supported by frame 46. The top surface of the plate may be doubly serrated or, in other words, it may consist of small points 4'! with wax channels between them in two direc tions. Around the doubly serrated top I provide channel 48 which is connected by suitable bores to the hopper 48 from which wax may be withdrawn by pipe 50 and reintroduced into one of the dipping baths.

The wheels as above described are mounted along the side of an endless track 5| which moves around the packing tables 52. Turntables 53 are provided with arcuate sections 54 and. straight sections 55 so that the frame supporting carriages may be moved from track 5| to one of the 3 track sections 24 on a rotatable wheel, transferred from the wheel back to the endless track, or passed directly along the endless track. It is understood, of course, that suitable aligning means, such as pivoted channel sections, may be used to hold the turntable wheel and endless track sections in fixed position with respect to each other when a frame supporting carriage is transferred. LikewiseI provide locking means which are preferably counterweighed levers for intercepting the path of the track when it is opened by rotation of the turntable or of the wheel. In other words, by suitable pins or gravity actuated locking means I prevent the carriages from rolling from the end of the track sections. Under the endless track 5| I may provide other dipping baths 56 and the track sections above these baths may be reciprocably mounted and counterweighed as above described or in any other suitable manner. I also provide a butt taper plate 51 which is a steam heated plate consisting of spaced holes 58 having tapered sides 59, said holes being connected by small bores 60 to the wax collecting hopper 6|. A small hopper 62 surrounds this plate to catch any wax which may run over the edge, and directs it through small bores to the hopper 6 l. The wax from this hopper may be discharged through pipe 63 to one of the dipping baths.

The operation of my invention may be described as follows: Wicks from a plurality of spools are drawn through a wax bath, held straight while the wax is allowed to cool, and cut into candle lengths. The relatively stiff waxed wicks are individually secured to clamps 21, these clamps are spaced along rods 28, and the rods are positioned in notches 29 of channel support 30. The frames are then hooked-onto the carriages on track 5| and the carriages are transferred theredipping wheels. The carriage is positioned above one of the dipping baths of wax 4| and the frame together with track section 24 is lowered to dip the wicks in the bath. counterweight 25 lifts the wicks out of the wax bath and holds them above the bath until the increment of Wax which has adhered thereto is solidified.

The frame is again reciprocated to immerse the wicks in the wax bath and theyare again allowed to cool before adding another increment of wax to the candle. In this manner the candle is built up to any desired diameter.

As the dipping process proceeds it may be desirable to increase the hardness of the wax on the outer shells so that there will be no tendency for the candles to spill wax down the sides thereof when they are burned. The wheel may be rotated in a clockwise direction and each succeeding bath may have a higher melting point wax or a harder wax than was contained in the preceding bath. Likewise, each succeeding bath may have a slightly different composition and/or color.

As the clipping process continues, an objectionable accumulation of wax forms at the base of each candle resembling an icicle or stalactite. Therefore, at intervals I lower the track section and carrier therefrom until the end of the wick just touches one of the hot plates. of the hot plate were flat there would be a tendency for the candles to slide in a sidewise direction, but I have discovered that when the surface is double serrated and the candles are slowly lowered the wax may be melted as fast as the candle is lowered and there is no tendency for the candles to slip.

When the candle is built up to the desired size the carriage-frame unit is transferred from the wheel to the endless track 5|. These'candles may have a finishing dip in one of the baths 56 and finally they may be tapered at their base on the butt taper plate 51. As the candles are lowered onto this plate'they are directed (by suitable extraneous means, if desired) into holes 58. The tapered surface 59 melts wax from the edge of the candle and each of the candles is therefore shaped at its base and made exactly the same length as the other candles.

The endless track 5| is built around a series of packing tables 52 so that when the candles are finished the whole frame may be lifted from the carriage supports and operators mayremove the candles, roll them in wax paper, protect them by suitable cardboard rings or tubes and place them in cartons for shipping.- I

By using the above method and apparatus I may dip 12 dozen candles from a single frame and may manipulate the frames in a rapid and convenient manner to produce hand dipped candles on a mass production scale with a minimum amount of labor and equipment. The candles are quite uniform in size and appearance; yet they have that individual fineness and richness that distinguishes hand dipped candles from cast candles.

It is important in the dipping process that drafts be avoided, because during the first dipping processes the candle wicks are easily bent.

Cooling currents, if used, should be directed from above each of the frames, and if such currents are used the frame shouldbe surrounded with a hood so that there will be no lateral motion of the cooling current which might cause a bending of the candle wicks.

While I have described in detail a preferred embodiment of my invention it is understood that I do not limit myself to. any of thedetails If the surface 1. In apparatus of the class described, a wheel a means for guiding the upward and downward movement of the track section.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a candle carrying frame, meansfor raising and lowering said candle carrying frame, a hot-plate mounted underneath said frame, said hot-plate having a double serrated top surface whereby when the candle frame is lowered to melt excessive wax from the base of the candles each candle will maintain a vertical position and will not slide on the surface of the hot-plate.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a frame, means for suspending candles from said frame, a hot-plate located beneathsaid frame, said hotplate having its upper surface scored, and means for causing relative vertical movement between said frame and said hot-plate whereby the lower ends of said candles may contact with the scored surface of said hot-plate to melt'away excessive material from the base of the candles.

'5. The combination defined in claim 1 including a stationary track located adjacent to said wheel in a plane common to the plane of said track section when the track section is at the limits of its upward movement, and means operable at will for establishing track connection be tween. said stationary track and said track sec tion.

6. The combination defined in claim 1 including a stationary track located adjacent to the wheel in a plane common to the plane of said track section when the track section is at the limit of its upward movement, means operable at will for establishing track connection between said stationary track and said track section, and

a plurality of carriages movable upon said track and track section.

'7. The combination defined in claim 1 including a stationary endless track located adjacent to said wheel and on a level with said track section when said track section is at the limit of its upward movement, switch means operable at will for establishing track connection between said stationary track and said track section when the track section is elevated, and a plurality of carriages movable upon said track and track section whereby carriages from the track may be raised and lowered at will when moved upon said track section.

8. The combination defined in claim 1 including a stationary track locatedadjacent to said wheel and level with said track section when said track section is at the limit of its upward movement, carriages movable upon said track and track section, said carriages including trains for suspending articles to be treated therefrom, a plurality of treating process stations located under said wheel and under said stationary track and means operable at will for establishing track connection between said stationary track and said track section whereby the carriages having articles suspended therefrom may be moved in a horizontal plane along said stationary track and in a vertical plane when on said track section. 

